California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Sunday that bars state public officials from issuing their own memecoins, a measure that lands squarely as a rebuke of Donald Trump's crypto business while he sits in the White House.
The law, AB 2409, prohibits public employees in California from launching their own tokens. It is one of eleven bills in a package Newsom's office presented under anti-corruption and consumer-protection aims. His office titled the announcement "The Opposite of Trump."
The provision applies only to California state public officials, meaning it has no direct bearing on Trump himself, who holds federal office. But the timing and framing leave little doubt about its target. Trump launched his own token three days before his inauguration in early 2025. Its price rose from under $1 to around $75, pushing its market value to roughly $14 billion at its peak.
Data from analytics firm Nansen shows the token's rise did not benefit most buyers. Nearly 989,000 buyers lost a combined $3.81 billion on the token. Trump's own asset disclosures list $636 million in licensing income tied to the coin, and entities linked to the Trump Organization are estimated to hold around 80% of the total token supply.
The token is one strand of a broader set of crypto ventures tied to the Trump family, which also includes the USD1 stablecoin issued through World Liberty Financial and stakes in publicly traded companies.
A wider package
The memecoin ban is not the only crypto-related measure in the package Newsom signed. One of the other ten laws sets out compensation for victims of fraudulent crypto offerings. Another creates a legal procedure allowing authorities to seize cryptocurrencies from cross-border criminal networks.
Taken together, the package positions California as legislating directly against practices associated with Trump's crypto ventures, even as the new memecoin rule itself reaches no further than the state's own officials.
Political backdrop
Newsom's term as governor ends in January, and he is regarded as a possible candidate for the 2028 presidential race. The White House did not initially comment on the new law.
